involves submerging the scope in water, pumping air through its chan-
nels and watching for bubbles that indicate the channel is compro-
mised — relies on the attention and training of reprocessing techs. Dry
leak tests, meanwhile, take the human element out of the process. The
endoscope is hooked up to a device that uses leak-sensing technology
to scan the endoscope's channels and prints out a report of the results
after each test. High-tech leak tests are more effective than manual
tests at detecting small defects that increase cross-contamination risks
and that could lead to further damage and costly repair bills.
Manual cleaning follows leak testing. Use appropriately sized brush-
es to clean the endoscope's channels twice, each time checking the
brush to make sure it emerges clean. After manual cleaning is com-
plete, attach the endoscope to an automated flushing unit — wall-
mounted or counter-
top models are avail-
able — which facili-
tates flushing cleaning
solution and rinse
water through all
channels of the
scopes.
• Drying and stor-
age. Automated endo-
scope reprocessors
run scopes through
several cycles —
cleaning, rinsing and
an alcohol flush —
that take about 25 to
30 minutes to com-
8 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 0
